The Champion

Earlier this year, a few of us who know each other from the Lehigh Valley Tweetups started seeing advertisements for auditions for this “2 Days in the Cube” contest to take place Memorial Day weekend at the Mayfair Festival in Allentown, PA in which 5 contestants would live inside a 2010 Nissan Cube for 2 days, compete in some silly competitions, and be allowed periodic bathroom breaks in hopes of winning a 2 year lease on the car in the end.   We came to the conclusion that we had to put our heads together and pick one person we could all get behind, support, and make sure they won that car.  That person was George Wacker.

After several days of online harassing, peer pressure, and other coercive measures, he agreed to do it.  He went to the auditions with his now-infamous taped up guitar and wooed the judges.  The strategy was sheer volume.  Heavy hitters if you will.  Get a little more than a handful of people to just pound away at the texting on their phones for 2 weeks.  But it was more than that.  We harnessed the power of social media.  We started a Vote for Wacker in 2 Days in The Cube! Facebook fan page with many administrators to add content, we created crazy momentum on Twitter, and got a catch phrase to keep it in the front of the masses – “Wack the Vote”.  Every time people saw it, it made them vote.  We would text each other and just say “Vote”, and it happened.  We even launched a Facebook Ad campaign for 20 miles around.  It got nearly 340,000 impressions for the cost of one tank of gas.  We didn’t care about click-thrus (linked to the Facebook fan page if they did), we just wanted visibility.  We kept the campaign light, funny, but visible and in front of the audience.

We posted pictures from Mayfair, we made sure people knew the number to text and send WACKER to, we pointed them to the live feed on UStream.  We made silly but clever motivational posters to vote.  We leveraged social media to stay in front of the people throughout the 2 weeks to keep momentum, raise awareness, have some fun, and oh yea – win a car!

Congrats again to George.  So – who’s next?

I talked a lot about the #140conf at both the LVTweetups and our radio show.  What a great time with some great people!!  Here is a video summary of my overall thoughts, and while I was there, I won an iPad (thanks to @twitgift). How do the two relate?? You have to watch the video to find out!

I also met @GaryVee – Gary Vaynerchuk and he gave a HUGE shoutout to the Lehigh Valley.  If you like wine, there will be a Tweetup opportunity with a road trip to his Wine Library store in NJ in the near future!

My other videos from #140conf are also on my YouTube channel.

You can also watch ALL the speakers and discussions on demand.

It’s one for the record books.  The 1 year anniversary @LVTweetup has come and gone and the 2nd year of Lehigh Valley Tweetups will no doubt have tough shoes to fill as this first year wraps up.

We had 58 people come to the party.  There is a twitter list of all the attendees.

The following articles were in the press and local blogs:

• Morning Call Wednesday, April 14: Local Twitter Users Press Flesh at LVTweetup
• Morning Call Thursday, April 15: Face to face, tweeters are networking
• LittlePocketGuide.com: LVTweetup Turns One!

Here are some photos too:

@ Nagevmai, @VeronikaG, @HexStarDragon

Phillipino-Up: @galliguez, @homebase610, @primerx24, @hexstardragon

@AliciaMQuinn and other Poconos Tweeps

@BackdoorBakeshp and @MaryDunlap

@Galliguez and @LVRunningScene

Our Pint Glass giveaway

Our @LVTweetup birthday cake

Tomorrow’s Tweetup at the Allentown Brew Works is action-packed.  We will be just past the bar in the Mezzanine level, same as last year.

• Be sure to sign in at the registration table -the party starts 7PM.
• Pick up your free pint glass! (First 60 people)
• Pick up your door prize raffle ticket (winner must be present) to win:
  • One of three boxes of 4 cupcakes – courtesy of Vegan Treats
  • A bottle of LVTweetup homemade wine – courtesy of Be the Bee
• Check in on Foursquare (if you Foursquare) – we are going for the Swarm badge and need 50 checkins.
• 8PM – Join us to sing Happy Birthday and get a piece of birthday cake – courtesy of Backdoor Bakeshop
• Shortly after the cake, we’ll draw the door prize winners.
• And all night long “Mo-Tweet-o” (Mojito) specials – Raspberry or Lemon – $4!
• Be sure to stop by for the free social media / professional headshots courtesy of Christopher Elston Photography

See you tomorrow night!

Below is the press release for the upcoming Lehigh Valley Tweetup.  MS Word format is available here.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:

Michael Andreano, (610) 628-1071

email: mandrean AT gmailDOTcom

LEHIGH VALLEY TWEET-UP TO CELEBRATE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Monthly get-together of local Twitterers returns to Allentown BrewWorks on Tuesday, April 13

ALLENTOWN – April 7, 2010 – They said it wouldn’t last, but boy did it ever.

When the first Lehigh Valley Tweetup (@lvtweetup) was held on April 13, 2009 at the Allentown BrewWorks, a skeptical but excited group of 35 people showed up to meet face-to-face. Since the social media outlet Twitter encourages interaction via the Internet, many of them had never met in person before. But that all changed one year ago when what started as an experiment turned into a monthly get-together that has introduced more than 400 people.

The brainchild of Forks Township resident Michael Andreano (@mandreano), the Lehigh Valley Tweetup (a Twitter meetup) was created as part of a larger trend of Tweetups taking place across the country in major cities like Chicago and New York. He knew through his Be the Bee Social Media Coaching business (www.thebeesbuzz.com) that there was a core group of Twitterers in the region and figured that if the big cities could do it, why couldn’t the Lehigh Valley? He saw the Tweetup as a way to connect in-person the local people who were already getting to know each other through Twitter.

The success of the April 2009 Lehigh Valley Tweetup and a follow-up one in June of that year prompted Andreano to make it a monthly event which averages 35-45 attendees. One Tweetup had as many as 100 attendees.

Andreano created marketing opportunities for local businesses using Twitter to create awareness for their brand, product or service for a fee by offering to list their company’s name and Twitter “handle” on a logoed giveaway item at select Tweetups. Giveaway items have included logoed pint glasses, golf balls, beer mugs, t-shirts and sweatshirts. He also sells logoed Tweetup apparel hats, mugs and other items on a web site

The December 2009 Tweetup, the largest Lehigh Valley Tweetup to-date, added a charitable angle with Andreano encouraging attendees to bring a donated toy for the annual Toys for Tots toy drive, and boxed and canned food goods for the Trinity Church Soup Kitchen in Bethlehem. A related silent auction raised $400 in donations for charities as well.

But perhaps most importantly, the Lehigh Valley Tweetups have connected area residents that may not otherwise have gotten to know each other except for a few 140-character messages.

“People like to connect with like-minded people,” says Andreano. “The Tweetups give them a chance to meet and connect with people in the local community both personally and professionally. Many local Twitterers who met online first have since strengthened that relationship by meeting in person at our Tweetups, and vice-versa.”

Join us for the One Year Anniversary of the Lehigh Valley Tweetup on Tuesday, April 13 at Allentown BrewWorks from 7 – 9 p.m. Logoed pint glasses will be given away to the first 60 attendees. A birthday cake made by the Backdoor Bake Shop in Bethlehem will be served to attendees at 8 p.m.  Christopher Elston Photography will also be doing free professional headshots that people can use for their social media accounts.  Dan’s Camera City will also have their photo booth available for free use.

Sponsors include:

Allentown Economic Development Corp – @allentownedc
Backdoor Bakeshop – @backdoorbakeshp
Be the Bee Social Media – @mandreano
Bethlehem Brew Works – @thebrewworks
Blabbermouth Communications – @blabbermouthcom
Black Forest Deli – @blackforestdeli
Christopher Elston Photography – @celston
CounterMarch Systems – @scrittler
Dan’s Camera City – @danscameracity
G&L’s Sign Factory – @synguy3
Hosfeld Insurance – @HOSFELDinsuranc
Mayflower Luncheonette – @LVGrkGrl
Spark – @mldrabenstott
Ted Colegrove – @primerx24

We have been doing our BlogTalkRadio show for the past 6 months with growing success.  This week is going to be no different and we have the guests and topics to back it up.  The latest Internet craze has been for celebrities to call you out and “make you famous”.

In the last few weeks, we have seen some people’s lives changed, possibly forever, thanks to the Internet.

It all started with the most talked about late-night talk show politics ever when Conan O’Brien was given an early exit from NBC’s Tonight Show. So what does he do with his spare time now? He starts a twitter account that blows up with over a half million followers in just days.

How does he pay it forward? He decides to follow ONE LUCKY PERSON! Enter Sarah Killen. She went from an everyday person to one of the most talked about people to date in 2010. She was set to appear on Larry King and Good Morning America.. and now.. THIS THURSDAY – be a part of history as Sarah Killian calls in to TWEEPS TALK TECH.

But wait, there is more… since it’s the thing to do, This Week in Tech with Leo Laporte followed suit.  Kevin Rose, the founder of Digg.com did a a random search for “I Hate Technology” on Twitter… Who tweeted it and was selected? Enter Lisa Etheridge. She got an iPad for FREE (and 23,000 followers to boot). Guess what – SHE WILL BE LIVE THIS THURSDAY TOO!! This is the first show to have both overnight sensations on the same show together.

Follow us at @TweepsTalkTech or the hosts @mandreano and @patrickkaine.

The show can be heard LIVE Thursday March 18 at 9PM Eastern at http://www.blogtalkradio.com/bethebee.

If you are interested in advertising on our awesome radio show, contact us and we can discuss packages that fit all budgets.

Social media is about engaging your audience, interacting with them, and creating a relationship or even a “trust” with them.  Something we see happen a lot is people posing questions to a large audience.  This is called crowdsourcing.   Crowdsourcing is defined on Wikipedia as “the act of taking tasks traditionally performed by (an individual), and outsourcing them to a group of people or community, through an “open call” to a large group of people (a crowd) asking for contributions.”  Many times you will find people ask “Where should I go to eat?” or “Is XYZ movie worth seeing?” via their Facebook status or Twitter comment.  This is indeed a great way to get people to respond to you and get input for a decision you have to make.  But when is it too much?  Well, unfortunately, that’s a question you have to answer for yourself.  People do instinctively want to help, which is why social media is a great tool to do that with, but seeing someone constantly just “asking the audience” is going to categorize you as a “noise factor” and your online reputation could take a hit.  Doing homework is one thing, but not being able to ever make a decision is another.  As part of our coaching, Be the Bee looks to help people get over their fear of technology and put them in front of a potential audience to engage, network and even potentially do business with.  The amount of connections we have seen made over the past year is simply tremendous.  The stories we hear offline (and online) could fill a book (note: idea already being worked on!).  It’s important to engage your audience, peers, colleagues, and get them to interact as well as interact back with them.  If you find yourself asking questions constantly looking for direction, insight, likes or dislikes, then ask yourself this “Am I engaging people, or am I starting to cause them to tune out”.  What do you think? 

After watching last month’s @Oprah show on Texting and Driving, I am pledging to give up texting and social media while driving for lent and beyond.  Join us in not texting, facebook, or tweeting while driving, tweet #NoTextNoTweetWhileDriving or leave a comment to show your pledge!  Spread the word!

When small businesses first started to market on Facebook, many business owners used their own personal account to broadcast their message to the masses. This was fine. You connected with a person who shared not only personal thoughts and stories, but something about their business. A little later, people started to get creative and create accounts for their business. This meant you became “friends” with a hotel, a bar, or a local plumbing service. This was so-so, but not really the best way to do it. Along came the growth of Facebook fan pages. This is where it is at for businesses to really execute and build awareness to a Facebook community. Simply put here are five strong reasons that accounts need to be actual people with real stories, and administrate and reference business ideas and information on their fan pages:

1. Like we said, Fan pages can be managed by one or more accounts. It means you log in with one account and can go manage several fan pages while logged in as that person. Too much? You can add other administrators as well to help, without having to worry about sharing accounts, or passwords.

2. Fan pages are a one-way relationship. The entity exists whether you have 5 fans, 500, or 5,000. Do you really want to be in the business of having to accept all those requests as a friend request one by one?

3. Fan pages have metrics. It shows you demographics of your fan base, trends of adds, drops, interactions, and article effectiveness. None of this is available on personal account pages.

4. You can always suggest the page to fellow Facebook friends, or post links on Twitter, Linked In, or in your email marketing. Potential fans can visit the page and instantly decide if they want to subscribe or not without waiting for a friend request to be accepted.

5. Separation of business and personal information. Fans of your business might not want every nook and cranny detail of your life, just your business or information on your industry. Or maybe your friends just like you as a friend and not about your business. It allows your friends to be social, your fans to connect with your business, and those that want both, to hear both sides of the story.

Hope you find this helpful. We’d love to hear your comments and thoughts on how you use Facebook to manage content for a business, or how you use that information as a consumer perhaps.

Our January Tweetup will be on Southside Bethlehem on January 14, 2010.  Starting at 6pm, we will be at Home and Planet (25 East 3rd Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015) for a wine and cheese mixer.  At 7pm, we’ll brave the cold and muster over to The Bookstore (336 Adams Street, Bethlehem, PA 18015) from 7-9pm.

RSVP on Twtvite!